Presentation of the education system diagnostic toolkit methodology

• In Event: System Diagnostics: A Practical Approach for Bringing Local Voices into Program Design

Proposal

This presentation will provide an overview of the USAID Education System Diagnostic Toolkit developed by researchers at the University of Notre Dame as part of the Supporting Holistic & Actionable Research in Education (SHARE) project. The toolkit is a guidance document for USAID staff and Implementing Partners (IPs) on how to effectively design and conduct participatory systems diagnostic for the purposes of informing more responsive and localized program designs and/or adaptations, and is based upon the diagnostic approach successfully employed across SHARE project studies and buy-ins. The toolkit methodology focuses on bringing together diverse stakeholders using an array of visual and collaborative systems mapping tools to better understand the complexity of a situation in order to help identify various root causes and leverage points in a given system for possible intervention. The toolkit’s diagnostic approach is intended to help program designers move beyond siloed research and the development of programming that simply reacts to emergent “symptoms” in their respective systems, and to move towards programming that attacks root causes and takes into account the larger picture of complex contextual dynamics and relationships upholding sub-optimal systemic outcomes.

The methods highlighted in the toolkit - that will be showcased during this presentation - focus on more effectively and efficiently surfacing insights at deeper levels of the “iceberg” model to get at the system’s underlying structures and mental models that may be essential points for intervention in order to make a lasting, positive impact on the system. The toolkit does not provide an exhaustive array of mapping methods/tools, but focuses on those that are broadly applicable, useful, and accessible to audiences that may have a more novice set of skills and experience with systems thinking in practice. It takes users through the steps from developing / determining whether they have an appropriate problem statement; to identifying an initial set of boundaries for their preliminary inquiry (and how to use common education frameworks to assist with this process); why and how to incorporate essential perspectives in the diagnostic in order to achieve a holistic view of how different parts of the system perceive and are impacted by the problem; and, most importantly, how to bring these perspectives together to create a visual depiction of the system’s dynamics and interrelationships - both between actors and factors - contributing to the emergence and/or perpetuation of the central problem. The diagnostic guidance is grounded in case studies from the SHARE project where systems diagnostics have been conducted across different educational and geographic contexts and with varying scopes. The presentation will highlight the accessibility and utility of a systems diagnostic in an education context, as well as some of the unique insights gleaned from the approach that might not otherwise surface utilizing more traditional research methods.

Research to be highlighted:
Education Diagnostic Toolkit (forthcoming)

Author

• Megan McDermott, Notre Dame Pulte Institute for Global Development